Better steering, braking, gear shifting, and considerably reduced CO2 emissions 

Bad Homburg, 19 August 2009.

ixetic GmbH (Bad Homburg) presents high-tech products with especially low energy consumption at the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt am Main. The automotive supplier’s latest vacuum and hydraulic solutions will contribute significantly to the lowering of CO2 emissions. The reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from all new vehicles will be the core theme at the IAA 2009. In December 2008 the European Union drew up a timetable for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions: By 2015, EU states are to gradually reduce the average CO2 emissions of new vehicles to 120 grammes per kilometre. In order to reach this target, car manufacturers will have to reduce vehicle fuel consumption considerably. “Apart from efficient engines, vehicle fuel consumption optimization calls for particularly economical auxiliaries”, says Georg Wolf, Management Board Chairman of ixetic GmbH. “We offer a whole range of ready-for-production pumps for gear supply, braking force generation and steering support that significantly reduce overall consumption and consequently the amount of CO2 emitted.” 

Groundbreaking fuel economizer 

Take ixetic’s consumption-optimized EV² steering pump. “Its special technical feature is that it precisely matches pump capacity to need using a proportional valve in the steering system”, explains Dr. Reinhard Plietsch, Development Manager at ixetic. “This leads to lower circulating pressures, which in turn reduces fuel consumption.” In the tests carried out, (NEFZ) the pump saved 0.2 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres. This corresponds to a reduction in CO2 emissions of almost five grammes per kilometre! Full braking power, half the energy requirement  ixetic is also focusing on energy efficiency when it comes to mechanical vacuum pumps. These pumps generate the negative pressure required for brake pressure boosting in both diesel and petrol engines that the intake system – unlike in the past – can no longer provide. The extremely low power consumption of the ixetic vacuum pump is especially impressive. “Compared to our established competitors, we have succeeded in reducing the entire speed range by approximately 50%”, explains Development Manager Dr. Plietsch. 

Shift gear and save 

ixetic offers highly efficient gear pumps for supplying oil to the gears. Ixetic’s latest double-stroke vane-type vacuum pump, for example, is characterised by very good volumetric effectiveness at low speeds. Another fuel-saving feature is demand-dependent control, based on switchable displacements. This saves around 0.1 litre of fuel per 100 km compared to the other well-known pumps on the market. “The reduction in CO2 emissions of approximately 2.5g per kilometre is double that achieved by competing products”, says Dr. Plietsch. 

The technology of the future today: the electrification of pumps 

Hybrid vehicles and vehicles fitted with start-stop automatic transmission use a new generation of pumps: electrically-driven vacuum and gear pumps. They require – regardless of the combustion engine – an independent electric drive. At the IAA ixetic will exhibit products that are now ready to go into production. These will be introduced onto the market in 2011. “Our electrified vacuum pumps save around 1.7 g of CO2 per kilometre compared to conventional vacuum pumps”, says Dr. Reinhard Plietsch. In contrast to conventional pumps that continuously generate power via the combustion engine, the electrically-driven pumps only generate power according to need and thereby avoid energy-consuming idle running. 

Optimized solution for hybrid vehicles
Another economical energy user is the electrically driven gear pump that supplies lubricating and cooling oil to the gears when the combustion engine is switched off. “Whether for automatic transmission, dual clutch transmission or continuously variable transmission, the pump supplies the amount of oil that corresponds with the desired rotation speed”, explains Dr. Plietsch. “This applies in all electrically-driven driving situations or – in the case of an existing mechanically driven oil pump – to meet demand peaks in a combustion engine driving cycle.” Ixeti’s new gear pump generation reduces consumption by 1.9 percent, while CO2 emissions are reduced by 3.7 g/km.  

Brief portrait of ixetic GmbH

ixetic GmbH with its headquarters in Bad Homburg (Hesse/Germany) is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of hydraulic and vacuum pumps for the automotive industry. In 2008 company turnover was around 300 million euros. ixetic has been an independent company since March 2006. Before that, ixetic was part of the company LuK Fahrzeug-Hydraulik and LuK Automobiltechnik, which in turn belonged to INA Holding Schaeffler KG. Today, ixetic is owned by the holding company cognetas. The company has around 1,200 employees at its German plants in Bad Homburg and Hückeswagen and its plant in Plovdiv (Bulgaria). Branches in Brunswick (USA), Shanghai (China) and Yokohama (Japan), a joint venture with DSI in Bangalore (India), a partnership with DHB in Porto Alegre (Brasil) and representatives in Russia and Korea complete the picture. The managing directors are Georg Wolf (chairman) and Norbert Gruber. The ixetic product range covers hydraulic pumps for steering, chassis and transmission applications, vacuum pumps for brake systems and lubricating oil pumps. Customers include renowned vehicle manufacturers such as Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche, Renault, Toyota, Volkswagen and all leading manufacturers of heavy and medium-heavy duty trucks such as ITEC, Scania, Daimler and Volvo.At IAA, you can find ixetic GmbH in Hall 4.1, stand D 04.